


Bruiser's New Dog Sitter

by Jackalope_303 (Genius_626)



Category: Legally Blonde - Hach/O'Keefe/Benjamin
Genre: Cute, Developing Friendships, Fluff, dog sitting, missing scene sort of, that's it thats the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24600847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genius_626/pseuds/Jackalope_303
Summary: Bruiser isn't happy being left alone in Elle's dorm during her longer classes. Enter Emmett, an entirely unqualified dog sitter.
Relationships: Bruiser Woods & Elle Woods, Bruiser Woods & Emmett Forrest, Emmett Forrest & Elle Woods, Emmett Forrest/Elle Woods
Comments: 8
Kudos: 133
Collections: legally blonde





	Bruiser's New Dog Sitter

In California, it’d been much easier for Elle to take Bruiser everywhere she went. It was more common for little dogs to be carried around, in LA especially, and Bruiser was so well behaved that no professor at UCLA had ever requested his removal from class.

Harvard Law was quite possibly the exact opposite of UCLA in every conceivable way. There were no campus community events or Greek life to speak of, nothing substantially social outside of small group studies or networking events. She'd expected the campus culture to be more _serious_ , but she hadn't expected the _stress_. She'd worked her ass off to get into Harvard, but nothing in those practice tests had prepared her for the intensely complicated world of law.

And because everything was so different here, she couldn't just go to a party for fun or hang out with her friends to relax. She hadn't made many friends yet--which was a very strange sentence to even hear herself think. 

Something that used to help keep her calm was the presence of her dog. Of course, she didn't take him absolutely everywhere in California, she was respectful of establishments and their safety precautions. But at least in her most stressful moments on campus, she had Bruiser, the most adorable and loyal of companions. Nothing seemed too difficult to deal with when she had her dog. 

While she was able to carry or even walk him around the Harvard campus, she reluctantly kept Bruiser in her dorm room during her classes. She wasn't self-conscious in the slightest, but it was hard to ignore the judgmental looks she got from people, whether it was directed to her outfits or her dog. On top of that, Bruiser wasn't very happy with the new arrangements. 

Bruiser liked taking little naps throughout the day--and of course, watching _Days of Our Lives--_ but after a few weeks of being left alone for sometimes two to three hours at a time, he was beginning to get restless.

Elle first realized he was upset when he chewed through one of her favorite plush bears, a small red one that Warner had gotten her for Valentine’s a few years back.

Earlier today, she'd received a formal noise complaint. Apparently, while she was gone, Bruiser whined and yapped. She lamented to Emmett about it during their study session.

“He’s never like this.” Elle said, thoroughly distraught. “I know he probably misses the Delta Nus. Whenever I couldn’t bring him to school or on a date, he had an entire house of adoring dog sitters.”

Emmett was sat on the floor, petting Bruiser, who seemed fine sitting next to him.

“I’ve never had a dog before, but I can imagine it’s a lot of responsibility.” He said.

“You’ve _never_ had a dog before?” Elle responded, incredulous.

Emmett shrugged. “I remember wanting one when I was a kid, but I’ve never had any kind of pet, really. There was this stray neighborhood cat that we fed sometimes. He liked to sit on our porch and bring us dead birds. Does that count?”

The look of horror on Elle’s face made him laugh out loud. Bruiser yipped when he wasn’t being petted, and Emmett’s attention went back to the little dog.

“No, that does _not_ count.” Elle said. “And I can’t believe I’m associating with a cat person.”

“Hey, that’s not fair.” Emmett protested. 

The beat of silence between them wasn’t tense, but Elle was fairly stressed about the situation.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do.” Elle sighed, slumping further down on her bed and trying not to pout. “I have class in an hour, and I don’t want to get kicked out of the dorms, or upset my dog any further.”

Elle heard Emmett shuffle to his feet. She looked up to see him holding Bruiser.

“I can watch him for you, if you want.” He offered. “Maybe I can do some reading outside, take him for a walk or something while you’re in class.”

“Hmm.” Elle squinted at Emmett, and then at Bruiser, who seemed content enough. “Have you ever dog sat before?”

Emmett shrugged. “No, but you’ve said yourself that he’s really well behaved.” He then held Bruiser closer to his chest. The dog licked his nose. “See? He likes me.”

Elle considered this evidence. She absolutely believed in a dog’s intuition and trust, and Bruiser didn’t just let _anyone_ hold him.

“Alright, Forrest, I’ll give you a chance.” She then proceeded to dig out all the necessary items for a walk; leash, treats, plastic bags, water bowl, etc.

“Remember he’s very small, so he gets dehydrated after really long walks.” Elle said. 

“Noted. Can he play fetch?”

“He’ll catch, but he won’t fetch. He can shake, though!” Elle then knelt down and gave the command to sit and shake, to which Bruiser promptly obeyed.

When Elle looked up at Emmett, he had a hand over his mouth, trying not to give away the fact that he found this incredibly cute. Elle found herself thinking, and not exactly for the first time, that Emmett was pretty cute himself.

…

Emmett and Bruiser walked her to class. She’d watched Emmett hold the leash, just to make sure he wasn’t holding it too high or pulling it too hard. Bruiser admittedly made it easy for him, he never walked too far ahead or stopped very often.

Elle had only really started to get to know Emmett a few weeks ago, but she trusted him more than anyone else on campus. She knew not to worry once she entered the lecture hall. For two and a half hours, she focused as hard as she could on taking notes and asking questions. This stuff was still honestly hard to grasp, but with Emmett's help, she was beginning to wrap her head around all the confusing jargon. 

When class was over, she packed up and took her phone out, ready to send Emmet a “where are you?” text.

Before she could type it out, she spotted them on a bench. Well, the bench was facing away from her, so she could see the back of Emmett’s head. She wondered if they’d been there this whole time.

When she reached the bench, she was pleasantly surprised to see her little dog curled up in Emmett’s lap. Emmett was sat there holding a paperback book in one hand and scratching Bruiser’s head with the other. Elle tried to contain herself, this image was just too cute. 

Elle had never seen a man be so gentle with Bruiser before. Warner hardly used to touch Bruiser, but when he did, he’d never seemed comfortable with such a little dog. And while Bruiser had never bitten or growled at Warner, he’d never sat with him before. This realization made her blush. Seeing Emmett in this light--a person with absolutely no dog experience having earned Bruiser's trust so effortlessly, and seemingly uncaring of anyone else around him who might judge him--it made her feel things that she was _not_ prepared to feel.

When Bruiser perked up at her presence, Emmett glanced up and smiled, putting his book down.

“Oh, hey. How was class?” He said. 

“Good.” Elle said, taking a seat next to them. “How was dog sitting?”

“Good.” Emmett echoed. “We just walked around campus. He had some treats, chewed on some grass, growled at a squirrel.”

“Sounds like a good day,” Elle replied. “Better than being cooped up in my room for three hours.”

Bruiser then hopped up from Emmett’s lap and sat between them on the bench. He looked up at them with his mouth open and his tongue sticking out.

“Thank you for this.” Elle said as Emmett handed the leash over to her. “You really didn’t have to do this. I know how busy you are. I can pay you if you want.”

Emmett shook his head. “That's not necessary, I really don’t mind. And hey, I brought a book that’s not law related. It was nice to take a break for a second.” He reached for Bruiser and scratched behind his ear. “It was nice to have some company, too.”

Elle couldn’t help but smile. She knew that Emmett was doing a lot for her out of the kindness of his heart, but she had the feeling that just maybe, he needed a friend just as much as she did.

"Hey, I know you don't go on a lot of social outings, too distracting," Elle said, "but maybe on one of our study breaks, we could go find the local dog park. I know there's one close by."

Emmett smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

...

It wasn't long before Emmett became her unofficial dog sitter, let alone one of her best friends. Bruiser eventually became more accustomed to his new home and made less noise when left alone. Elle thought that it helped him knowing that Emmett might visit and take him for a walk. 

Through the years, Emmett eventually became just as much a dog-parent as Elle. Bruiser eventually went from "my friend's dog," to "my girlfriend's dog," to "our dog."

Five years after graduation, Elle sometimes came home to her husband lying on the couch and Bruiser sleeping on top of him. Bruiser was an old man now, with little white hairs on his face, and his joints not what they used to be. It was getting harder for him to jump from place to place, so Emmett often picked him up onto the couch for naptime.

Elle would sometimes just look at them and remember the first time she'd seen them like this. She loved her little family.


End file.
